Parenting.....an exercise in humility

I have a special song for each of my kids. Gavin has always liked the 14 Angels song. Brendan always requested Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Ashlynn preferred my own tune made up to the words from a book "I like you for always, I love you forever, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be" and Caitrin has always loved My Darling Irish Girl. Meghan is 3 months shy of being two and has not liked me singing ANY song, let alone have a favorite one. I would not be honest if I said it hasn't bothered me, because I really enjoy singing and I'm known around my home for making up little songs for routine tasks/chores that I am sure will play in my kids heads when they are older. I'm not sure if they will laugh or cringe when it happens the first time they walk in the door of their own homes and hear the original tune I sing to "shoes on the shoe rack....coats in the closet." And one day, I hope they find themselves singing to their children as they push them on the swing, "I like to fly....up in the sky....I go up and down, and back and forth, swinging through the air, without a care as I fly.....up in the sky." Yes, I like to sing and find it a natural way to guide my kids and have fun with them. Sooo....when my yongest has cried, screamed and whined at me from very early on if/whenever I started to sing any song to her, I have found it rather disconcerting. It has gotten easier with time, but still upsetting and a disappointment until recently. With Meghan's quickly developing language skills, I figured out that she was the one who wanted to do the singing. She didn't want anyone singing a song that she wasn't able to sing along to. Since she can talk better, she can now sing too. She likes listening to recordings of people singing, videos, tv shows and such with people singing and learns from them without any protest. So I persisted in offering/asking her if she wanted me to sing her a song or would like to sing together (ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, etc.). Last night, it finally happened! Meghan let me sing to her at bedtime. She wanted to hear "Rock-a-bye Meghan, in a tree top. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. Mommy will catch Meghan cradle and all." Had to change the lyrics a long time ago as I always thought it was a scary song and not likely to lull a child to sleep when they finally comprehend the lyrics! Ha ha! So there is was...a first. Hopefully she will allow it to continue and her favorite song request will not be the song she has been singing around the house the last couple of days, which is, "S.O.S. please someone help me" (from the Chipmunks 3 movie, where Jeanette is held captive, tied to a string and lowered down to gather a treasure while singing that song). Ha ha!